Another Monthly Art Experiment for July

I wanted to try “dyeing” plain fabric with water-soluble crayons. It’s so simple! I applied the crayons (Caran D’ache Neocolor II) very lightly to a piece of tightly woven muslin – then just brushed on water to blend. I kept the application of color very light because I wanted to use the fabric for a background to which I would be adding more color and stitching. I used a light box to trace a quick sketch of a zinnia from my nature journal onto the fabric, backed it with a piece of felt and then stitched it in black floss. The center is filled with French knots and straight stitches. I colored in the flower and leaves after I had finished stitching them, adding water to blend. Here is a great link showing the versatility of Caran D’ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons (with tutorials) by wonderful artist, Fannie Narte.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and plan on transferring more sketches to cloth. This one will probably be made into a postcard at some point. I will use my heat gun to set the colors.

Monthly Art Experiment for April

For this month’s art experiment, I tried an alternate technique for making fabric paper. This time the backing is felt (for a nice cushioned effect) and a layer of plain tissue paper is fused to it (with WonderUnder). Then a collage of decorative paper, printed tissue paper, stamps and paints is applied. Here are a few of the resulting ATC backgrounds. Instructions for this great technique can be found, here, in an article by Pokey Bolton(Quilting Arts magazine).

Monthly Experiment for March: Creating New Fabric from Scraps

Here is my experiment for March – just under the wire! It's a method for creating a unique piece of fabric by fusing fabric scraps, stamping with metallic paint, layering with sheer fabrics, machine stitching and cutting the sheer fabric to expose the stamped images. This is a technique I bookmarked to try (someday...) after first seeing it a few years ago in the Fall 2005 issue of Quilting Arts magazine (page 24). It is somewhat labor-intensive, but definitely worth further exploration...

Another Fabric Paper Sample

Last night, I decided to try making a more subdued sample. I glued everything on top of a really ugly old piece of cotton. This is a great way to use fabric that would otherwise go unused...

2010 Monthly Experiment (January): Fabric Paper

Well, give me a little paper, paint, fabric and glue and I’m happy. This is my first experiment making fabric paper – what fun! (This is meant to be cut up and used for postcard and ATC backgrounds with added stitch and/or collage elements.) I put all of the cats in the bedroom and worked at the kitchen table last night for a little while – and what a fine mess I made! There are a few sources of instructions for this (and a couple of variations) on the web. The Quilting Arts web site has Beryl Taylor’s instructions, here. And Arlee Barr has a wonderful tutorial, here. Got to play with this some more...